Golden Gloves state champions crowned in exciting fights

SALT LAKE CITY — Normally, knocking an opponent to the ground just a little more than a minute into the first round is a good thing.

But for Salt Lake City’s Gabriel Chairez, it actually made his fight a lot tougher.

“Once I dropped him with those first couple shots, I got excited,” said the 19-year-old Salt Lake Community College student after beating Gianni Madrid in Saturday’s Golden Gloves state championships at the Sorenson Multi-Cultural Center. “I started focusing on the knockout. I figured I could take him out pretty quick, and I got it excited and it took me off my rhythm.”

The idea that he could end the fight quickly caused him to deviate from his usual methodical approach to boxing.

“I wasn’t necessarily doing everything I should have done,” he said. “It made it a tougher fight than it should have been.”

The fight between Madrid, who boxes out of State Street Boxing, and Chairez, who boxes for Police Athletic League, earned the “Best Bout” award from judges — in large part because of the way Madrid battled back after two hard hits from Chairez sent him to mat. Madrid’s grit made the championship fight a thriller, something Chairez appreciated, but also felt he could have avoided with a different strategy. “I should have just stuck to what I was doing,” Chairez said. “I let that knockdown get into my head.”

Chairez went to the quarterfinals of the National Golden Gloves Tournament last year, which was also the year he won a $1,500 scholarship from the Rocky Mountain Golden Gloves chapter.

“It actually helped a lot,” he said. “I don’t have a job that pays too much. Going to school, training, studying, with a job, it would be a lot harder without the help. With that scholarship I am able to work a part-time job and do everything I need to do to train hard.”

All five of the title fights were battles, which can only be a positive sign for how Utah boxers will fare at next month’s regional tournament, which will be part of FitCon.